Fashionclash Festival in Maastricht

More than 150 new fashion designers and artists from all over the world are joining the FashionClash Festival in Maastricht from the 29th of June until the 2nd of July 2017.

Four days full of fashion shows, exhibitions, awards, fashion talks, designer market, theatre and dance performances and a specially curated Fashion Makes Sense LAB.

FASHIONCLASH is an innovative, interdisciplinary development platform and international fashion network that focusses on supporting a new generation of designers and artists.
Main goals is to connect talent, knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship and to challenge the (fashion) world. Over the past ten years Fashionclash has grown from a single project into an influential fashion statement by developing and organizing projects such as the annual 'FashionClash Festival' in Maastricht.

It is the 9th edition and it is composed and curated around the theme ‘Fashion Makes Sense’.
Focusing on senses and making sense in relation to fashion. Our society approaches fashion and the world mainly as visual phenomena and the fashion industry faces heavy discussion for being the second most polluting industry in the world.
Fashionclash raises the question: (Why) Is Fashion Losing Sense?
We live in a rapidly changing world where progress is accompanied by environmental pollution and ethical issues. The fashion world is a mighty billion industry, and like no other is able to create an illusion and seduce us humans and excite our senses.

Today's fashion industry is a reflection of society with a strong focus on aesthetics. Today fashion is seen as a purely visual phenomenon and doesn’t always see the nature of the interaction with the body (of the wearer), despite the fact that fashion is the most intimate form of art, as it is literally worn “on the body”!
As a second skin, clothing also enables us to express ourselves and helps us make sense of the world.

How can we use fashion to truly connect with our body instead of being just a simple aesthetic of symbolic phenomenon?

How can we (re)connect with ourselves and the world through fashion?

How can fashion (designer & industry) nowadays truly connect with the body and human-being?

With 'Sense' FASHIONCLASH puts the focus on the senses and the sensory experience of fashion in a world that dominate the visual sensations.

With 'Fashion Makes Sense' Fashionclash wants to examine the relationship between fashion and the human body. Fashion as a means to connect yourself to the world and to enrich a bodily experience. The playful double meaning of 'Fashion Makes Sense’ also aims at stimulating designers, the industry and the public to think about the state of fashion industry. What is the importance and role of fashion in our society and how can fashion contribute to a better world and well-being?

Using the question “How Does Fashion Make Sense?”
FASHIONCLASH wants to engage in a dialogue with the public (consumer-designer-industry-education), because they believe that no change will be possible without interacting with the public.

Fotografie: Lonneke van der Palen | Kostuum: Pleun van Dijk | Grafisch ontwerp: Studio Noto
Haar: KEVIN.MURPHY | Modellen: Mami Izumi, Florian Myjer

About FASHIONCLASH Festival 
FASHIONCLASH Festival (FCF) is an initiative of the FASHIONCLASH Foundation and its artistic and managing directors Branko Popovic, Laurens Hamacher and Nawie Kuiper. FCF is an inspiring, international and interdisciplinary fashion festival that takes place in Maastricht (the Netherlands), that shows the art of fashion in the broadest sense of the word. The festival aims to provide a fertile platform where a new generation of designers and artists from various disciplines get the opportunity to present their work to a broad and diverse audience, (inter)national press and industry leaders.

With themes, such as ‘Age/Art of Aging’ (FCF 2014), ‘Gender’ (FCF 2015), ‘Heritage’ (FCF 2016) and now ‘Fashion Makes Sense’ (FCF 2017).  FASHIONCLASH creates narratives that rise above the superficial definition of the word ‘Fashion’.

Since the first edition in 2009 more than 1,000 talents from 50 different countries and 6 continents have joined FASHIONCLASH Festival and were given the opportunity to show their talent and work. Some of their careers really took off from there!

For more information and the program visit FashionClash.

I love cats! And the wild ones!

Looking in the eyes of a tiger, I love these creatures of nature. Such a grace, such a strength and such a beauty.

I feel sorry for them living in a zoo, I would love to see them in their own environment.
But to be honest, when they weren't in a zoo I would have seen them only in photos and in film. As the zoo claims we are making people aware of the diversity of wildlife and the importance of the support of wildlife especially for endangered animals. I can agree with that but it doesn't make me feel less sorry for the ones living in a zoo.

But when we have a look at the white tiger, this one has no chance of surviving in nature because he or she shines out in the jungle. A white tiger is a pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger and in nature very rare. When you search the internet about it, you can read about some other sad news about the breeding with this unique tiger. Maybe the zoos should only adopt them when they are found in nature and not breed with them? I don't know the details so if anyone is well informed, let me know and we can share what is the truth about white tigers!

Tigers are an inspiration for fashion an art. Kenzo has its own line with its well known tiger print and many designers have used animal prints. And not only in clothing, also in bags, shoes, sheets, chairs and more. Just put tiger print in your search engine and see how many variations there are!

During my visit at Dierenpark Amersfoort I had the pleasure of seeing these powerful wild predators. Because of the glass fence, you can really get close to them.

Dierenpark Amersfoort is building a bigger place for their wildcats and it will be opened on the 8th of July 2017. For more information visit the zoo!

Chanel travels to Ancient Greece

Chanel travels to Ancient Greece for its cruise 2017/2018 collection. Creating an atmosphere of the temple of Poseidon at Sounion and the Parthenon of Athens the models walked along side the columns of the temple.

Like they walked on the ruins of these archeological excavations.

Like greek goddesses with their eternal beauty.

The collection 'The Modernity of Antiquity" presents an impressive overview of Chanel roots until today. Recognisable boucle fabrics, but also knitwear and soft jersey. Hellenic silhouettes, ancient sandals and gold details made the show complete. Pastels and off-white are the main colours.

And I love the 'round' handbag Arizona Muze hold in her second look with an owl, the symbol of goddess Athena

Karl Lagerfeld:

The criteria of beauty in Ancient then Classical Greece still holds true. There have never been more beautiful representations of women. Or more beautiful columns. The entire Renaissance, in fact, was based on antiquity.

I see Greece as the origin of beauty and culture.

Karl Lagerfeld proves that you don't have to ask for presenting your new collection at the Parthenon in Athens, he just rebuilt it in the center of Paris.

Photo via Instagram by Getty Images in InStyle Magazine

My favourite looks of the show.

Chanel is above all a style. Fashion passes, style remains.

Robert Mapplethorpe, a perfectionist

Everything is about perfection.

Also in photography. Whether the subject is a flower, a building or a person. The exposure, the composition, the colors, the cutout or not, everything must be in harmony or not?

But what is perfection? What is a perfectionist?

Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 - 1989) was a perfectionist in his photography. For him, perfection meant that no more questions were asked about his photographs. Like you don't question the artwork of Picasso.

This photo is taken at the exhibition,
I loved the reflection of the two other photos, representing his portraits, still life and nudes.

Perfection means you do not ask anything about the photograph.

In the Kunsthal Rotterdam is an overview of his perfect pictures until the 27th of August.

Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most influential artists and photographers of the 20th century. His photographs are known by his simplicity, mostly black and white, but also by his subjects.

His drive to achieve aesthetic perfection forms the core of his work. With his intense and intrusive photos, Mapplethorpe showed that photography is a true art form. In his early years, the late 1960s, photography as an art form was still a discussion.

The exhibition shows more than two hundred photos and objects focused on 'perfection in shape' as the photographer calls it himself. Robert Mapplethorpe shows clearly and without limitations his fascination for sexual fetishism with a hard contrast with his palpable flowers.

His three well-known portfolios X, Y and Z are also on display at the exhibition.
X is all about sex and his early work in 13 polaroids, Y is all about flowers and Z is blacks. Don't forget to read the impressive introductions by Patti Smith,

There are also many self-portraits, which demonstrates that Mapplethorpe understood the importance of crafting his own image.
His latest, from 1988, where his head appears to be floating against a black background and his hand grips a skull-topped cane, a symbol of his impending death, shows his perfection in photography as art.

I am obsessed with beauty,
I want everything to be perfect,
and of course it isn't.
And that's a tough place to be
because you're never satisfied.

A glimpse of his memorable work. Photos courtesy of Kunsthal Rotterdam.

(Left) Self-Portrait (1980), Gelatin silver print. Gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and to The J. Paul Getty Trust
(Middle) Patti Smith (1978), Gelatin silver print. Jointly acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The J. Paul Getty Trust. Partial gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation; partial purchase with funds provided by The J. Paul Getty Trust and the David Geffen Foundation.
(Right) Two Men Dancing (1984), Gelatin silver print. Promised Gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to The J. Paul Getty Trust and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

(Left) Poppy (1988), Dye imbibition print. Jointly acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The J. Paul Getty Trust. Partial gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation; partial purchase with funds provided by The J. Paul Getty Trust and the David Geffen Foundation.
(Middle) Ken Moody and Robert Sherman (1984), Platinum print. Jointly acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The J. Paul Getty Trust. Partial gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation; partial purchase with funds provided by The J. Paul Getty Trust and the David Geffen Foundation.
(Right) Lisa Lyon (1981), Gelatin silver print. Gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and to The J. Paul Getty Trust

For more information on the exhibition visit De Kunsthal.

The Met Gala, all about the guests by H&M

Maybe you don't expect it but also H&M designed some custom looks for several guest at The Met Gala. It is already the third time in a row! Among these guests are Nicki Minaj, Future, Ashley Graham, Joe Jonas, Jourdan Dunn, Sasha Lane and Stella Maxwell.

The Met Gala is a returning benefit gala on the first Monday of May. Celebrities, actors, models and other fashionable people gather to visit the new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year it is all about Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.

The design team of H&M was inspired by this year’s Costume Institute exhibition Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between. The team created one-of-a-kind looks that explored many of Kawakubo’s recurring themes. These included deconstruction, subverted tradition and asymmetry, mixed with the charm of bows, flowers and polka dots, with each look made especially for this exclusive evening of fashion.

H&M was particularly pleased with this year’s theme having collaborated with Comme des Garçons for its 2008 H&M designer collection.

“It has been our honour at H&M to create these looks inspired by Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons, one of fashion’s most important and influential designers. Each H&M look has been entirely custom-made, with both Kawakubo’s creative world and the style of our guests in mind,” said Pernilla Wohlfahrt, H&M’s Head of Design and Creative Director.

“Partnering with H&M has been an incredible and unique experience. The look we have created is so special to me and I’m looking forward to sharing this moment with everyone. Together with the H&M design team, we embodied the theme; from the dramatic train to Kawakubo’s face. it’s truly inspiring!” said Nicki Minaj.

Nicki Minaj

“It’s been such a wonderful experience with H&M for my first Met Gala. I have loved collaborating with them every step of the way and I can’t wait to show off my dress. It’s everything I could have ever dreamed of!” said Ashley Graham.

Model Ashley Graham wore a corset dress influenced by Kawakubo’s interest in revealing the inner workings of garments. An off-white corset was subtly deconstructed, while a long red silk skirt was boned and fastened by hook-and-eyes, both decorated with exuberant ruffles of dark red silk organza.

Ashley Graham

“I always love wearing H&M, so it’s been an amazing experience to have H&M create this one-off look just for me. The tailoring is sharp and perfect for this special night, and it’s all so effortless,” said Joe Jonas.

Singer Joe Jonas was dressed in a deep red slim fit suit in Italian double-silk satin with black stripe and lapels. His black silk shirt was in 100% organic silk, finished with a black bowtie.

Joe Jonas

Rapper and singer Future was dressed in a slim-fitted black tail-coat made from organic silk, TENCEL® and wool, its back embellished with a hand-embroidered black skull with a red Swarowski crystal heart. He wore it with a dark navy shirt in organic silk and a bow tie.

Rapper Future

Model Jourdan Dunn wore a body-skimming dress that played with the theme of deconstructing and subverting traditional garments. A top of off-white silk taffeta shirting appeared as if falling off a calico bodice, its skirt of deconstructed navy pinstripe suiting that was cut asymmetrically and into bows.

Actress Sasha Lane wore a sheer net-like structured dress embellished with various sizes of polka dots, one of Kawakubo’s key motifs. The dress was held by a sheer, boned upper body with black Swarovski crystals, the playful dots in tactile materials such as raffia and velvet.

Sasha Lane

Model Stella Maxwell wore a sheer organic silk chiffon dress covered in strands of pearls. Beginning as a necklace that draped the open back, the pearls crossed the chest and formed the lines of a crinoline into the dress, before falling free to play around the body.

Stella Maxwell

Photos courtesy of H&M by Getty Images